


jumanji

by hey_there_demons



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: F/F, Galaxy Gals, M/M, Multi, did someone say...jumanji au, main characters do die but ya know...three lives, mouse!alana, ruby!zoe, seaplane!evan, shelly!jared, sincerely three, smolder!connor, there's gonna be conman angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 12:42:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15143321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hey_there_demons/pseuds/hey_there_demons
Summary: It all started the night Evan Hansen disappeared.The police said there were no signs of a break-in, nothing to indicate that the boy was taken by force. His room was exactly how his mother last saw it, except from a cartridge in his out of date, off-brand gaming console, named Jumanji.





	jumanji

**Author's Note:**

> sup kids here's the jumanji 2: welcome to the jungle au no one asked for

It all started the night Evan Hansen disappeared.

His mother had left him to his own devices for the night, as was usual in the Hansen household. She worked late most nights and so this should have been a very typical night for him. He didn’t call his boyfriends over, wanting to spend a night alone and was sat in bed, reading a book given to him by one of his aforementioned boyfriends. He had reached the part of the book where the young heroine and her companions get whisked away to the planet Uriel when he heard a distant drumming, getting ever closer. He first looked out the window to find the source of the sound, assuming a parade celebrating something obscure that Evan wouldn’t understand but as the sound got almost deafeningly louder, he realised the sound was coming from inside the house.

This thought immediately terrified him, what if he had been broken into? What if a cult had broken into his house and was performing a satanic ritual? What if a cult had broken into his house to sacrifice him in a satanic ritual? He felt an anxiety attack coming as he felt the vibrations of the drums through the floor. He had regretted not asking his boyfriends to come over. He tried covering his ears, but this did nothing, as if the drums were inside his head. It was becoming unbearable, Evan started to yell and kick his bookshelf in frustration. This caused it to rattle and a hard, wooden box fell from the top, where his mother had put it earlier. Evan wouldn’t have noticed if the drums hadn’t stopped the moment the box had hit the floor with a dull thud.

Evan sat there for a long time, trying to calm down, reaching for his Xanax and taking one quickly. He waited until his heart rate down to even register the box on the ground. He pulled it towards him and ran his hands over the title before opening his, finding a small video game cartridge instead of the board game he had found earlier. He took it out, confused, and almost automatically reached for his cheap games console that Jared hated with a passion and slotting the cartridge in and starting the game.

The police deduced that he had run away, ignoring his mother’s exclamations that he wouldn’t do such a thing. They called out a lacklustre search for the boy, who day by day faded from people’s mind – all except his mother’s. This confused her at first, why her son’s boyfriends were no longer concerned for his safety, why her friends never asked how the search was going, how the police just stopped searching. She would spend days at a time in his room, solidifying his existence, reminding herself that her son was very real and still very missing.

The police said there were no signs of a break-in, nothing to indicate that the boy was taken by force. His room was exactly how his mother last saw it, except from a cartridge in his out of date, off-brand gaming console, named Jumanji.

This was six months ago, and the world continued to turn without Evan Hansen.

Jared Kleinman had been sad that summer, without knowing why. It was a deep sadness, akin to grief but he couldn’t place the reason. He had broken up with his boyfriend that summer, but it seemed worse than the heartbreak he felt, or rather, mixed in with the heartbreak. Like they were connected, somehow. Every time he had been with Connor, it felt like something was missing, a puzzle piece or warm presence that should be with them. He sometimes felt like someone else was in the room with them, a ghost of something irreplaceable. As a result, they became distant, bitter, angrier and they broke up that August in an irreconcilable fight, in which they called each other every hurtful name under the sun. Jared had gotten the sense that this would’ve been avoided with the intervention of that ghost.

“Jared, honey, it’s time to get to school!” Esther Kleinman called from the foot of the stairs. Jared bounded down a moment later, almost reaching the door before being stopped by his other mother.  
“Hey, you need to eat something.” Sophie Kleinman turned him around towards the kitchen.  
“I’ll eat later, I need to pick up…” He trailed off, not sure who he needed to pick up.  
“What do you need pick up, sweetheart?” Sophie asked, pouring him a bowl of cereal. He shook his head clear of the confusion.  
“Nothing.”

Connor Murphy had also been that sad that summer, but he couldn’t remember a time he wasn’t sad. _That’s not true_ , a voice in his head whispered. He supposed it was right, his relationship with Jared Kleinman was rather turbulent in its last months but he could remember the feeling of being happy with him. The memories were harder to recall, though, they were vague and distant as if they happened in childhood. It was almost as if his mind was trying to hide something from him. Each time he tried to push harder to remember he hit a mental block, so eventually he stopped trying. He didn’t want to think about Jared fucking Kleinman, anyway.

That was hard to do when he subconsciously parked his car next to his that morning at school.

“Have you spoken to him?” Zoe asked, nodding towards the car.  
“Why the fuck would I do that?” Connor snapped back, bile rising at the back of his throat.  
“Don’t bite my head off about it.”  
“Fuck off, Zoe. Fuck’s sake.” He stormed off into the school, leaving his younger sister watching after him. Zoe sighed in disappointment, hoping for some sort of amiable interaction with Connor for once.

Connor tried to walk as quietly as possible in the school hallways, trying his best to be invisible. For a brief moment, he’d missed not wanting to be invisible. He could remember that feeling of pride, walking next to Jared in school, who wrapped an arm around his waist.

“Hey, Connor, loving the new hairstyle!” Jared called out at him, Alana Beck at his side, looking worried. _Jared, you dick. You’ve seen it before._ “Yeah, it’s very _school shooter chic_ , you know?  
“Jared!” Alana gasped, shocked. “You can’t say that!” Anger flooded Connor’s system.  
“Come on, it was a joke!” Jared laughed, but Connor heard the slight strain in his voice that appeared whenever he knew he’d fucked up.  
“Yeah, I know I’m laughing, can’t you tell?” Connor’s voice, almost seemed unrecognisable to Jared, being so monotone and simmering with fury, all directed towards him. “Am I not laughing hard enough for you?” He took a step towards Jared, watching him flinch slightly. A look of vindictiveness crept onto Jared’s face and Connor tensed up.  
“You’re such a fucking freak, you know that, Connor?” He hissed. “No wonder you have no one who cares about you.” Connor leapt into action, pushing Jared to the floor, straddling him and pulling his closed fist back to punch him in his fucking face.

“Connor!” Alana grabbed his wrist in her surprisingly strong hand and pushed him off Jared, while another student helped Jared up and held him back.  
“Fuck you, Murphy!” He shouted, struggling in Sabrina Patel’s arms.  
“I’m not the freak, you’re the fucking freak!” Connor growled back, struggling against Alana with little to show for it.  
“What is going on here?” A teacher stepped in between the two, clearly angry and concerned. “All of you, principal’s office right now.

“Detention on your first day, Connor?” Zoe said, perched on a cabinet watching Connor angrily sort the recycling into piles and avoiding eye contact with Jared.  
“Well, it’s not my fault.” He hissed, gesturing to his ex-boyfriend. Jared shot him a dark look but said nothing, turning back to his pile.

This had been his fault, after all. He had just felt so… _something_ when he saw Connor and his hunched shoulders. Something between heartbroken and angry and sad. The Bermuda Triangle of negative emotions and Jared was stranded in the middle. Part of him laughed a little at the metaphor coined by Alana. He called out to Connor, wanting to see his face, wanting to see if he looked how Jared felt. But when he turned Jared saw no sort of affection towards him, like Jared was a complete stranger. This pushed Jared firmly towards the angry point of his little triangle. He knew how to hurt Connor the most and used it to his full advantage, words flying out like venom. He didn’t think Connor would actually hurt him, but as he pushed him to the linoleum ground ready to punch him, Jared realised he didn’t really know Connor at all.

He turned to Alana, who volunteered to stay behind, despite avoiding detention.  
“You know you could go home, right?” He asked, watching his only friend sort through her own pile with frightening efficiency.  
“Well, I want to help the environment any way I can, Jared.” She grinned, a look which Jared returned with one of his own; he knew that Alana was really just there for him. The recycling was just a bonus. Zoe fidgeted for a moment before jumping off the cabinet and walking around the store room.  
“Why are you here?” Jared asked once he noticed her movement.  
“I’m his ride.” She pointed to Connor before disappearing behind a metallic set of shelves, examining Jared’s reaction through them. She rolled her eyes as Jared said nothing and turned back to his pile. She didn’t know the details of what happened between the two boys, but she thought it was ridiculous the lengths they would go to avoid each other. Connor stopped going out, scared to come across places that were special to them, even more scared of seeing Jared there. It all seemed so melodramatic, which Zoe would have voiced if she and Connor were on better terms. They had made progress over the summer, as Connor was finally in therapy and getting the help he needed, but Zoe still felt uncomfortable with him. She was unsure where the boundaries lie between them and so there was this odd no-mans-land in the Murphy household between siblings and amiable roommates.

Zoe looked over at Alana, looking between the two boys with a look that could only be described a pity. Alana had seen first hand how Jared was affected by their breakup (the Bermuda Triangle of Jared’s Negative Emotions suffered from a hurricane), but she didn’t understand it. The way Jared was acting, it was like someone had died. But considering that he was Alana’s best (and only) friend, she supported him, talking walks with him late at night or early in the morning when he got too emotional, watching TV marathons of ghost hunting shows that creeped her out a little and playing as many video games with him as she could without hurting her eyes from the bright neon colours. She had planned to do volunteer work for that entire summer, she wasn’t even close to Jared at the time, but all her plans went out the window when he had called her, crying.  
“I didn’t know who else to call.” He said, tripping over his words while he sobbed. “Could you- Do you want to come over?” Alana couldn’t say no in that position, but the more time she spent with Jared, the more she grew to like him, and the rest was history.

“God, what’s wrong with you?” Connor said suddenly, in a sharp voice. “Too scared to even look at me, Kleinman?” Jared whipped his head around, eyes wide with surprise. Once again, Connor watched as Jared’s face morphed into something bitter.  
“Yeah, Murphy. Who would want to look at that ugly face?” He snapped back.  
“You, when you kissed it.” Connor said, and Jared paused for a moment, shocked that he had the nerve to bring that up.  
“Biggest mistake of my life, believe me.” He turned away, going back to his pile.  
“I thought that was being born.”  
“Connor, please!” Alana interrupted, feeling the tension escalate and wanting to diffuse it as soon as possible.  
“Stay out of it, Beck.” Connor spat at her and Jared sprang into action.  
“Don’t talk to her like that.”  
“Jared, it’s okay.”  
“No, it’s not, he’s an asshole.”  
“And you’re not!”  
“Just shut up, _shut up_!”  
“What are you going to do, Kleinman?”

Jared pushed him to the ground, yelling _shut up_ continuously as he punched him, ignoring Alana’s and Zoe’s shouts for him to stop. Connor didn’t do anything to defend himself and eventually Jared just tired himself out.  
“I hate you so much, Connor.” Jared whispered, sadness tangible in his voice. Connor opened his mouth to reply when the sound of drums filled the air. Quiet at first but growing in volume to the point that the four teenagers had to cover their ears. Jared doubled over, and Connor instinctively took him into his arms, like a reflex, from their place on the ground. Zoe leant against the shelf, knocking over several items including an old, off-brand games console with a cartridge stuck in it. She wouldn’t have noticed it if the drums hadn’t suddenly stop once the games console hit the ground. She watched as the other three recovered (Connor pushed Jared off of him once he realised what position they were in) and she picked up the console.  
“God, this is old.” She said, wiping dust of it with her fingers. She noticed a label with a name on it and wiped the dust of it to get a clearer look. “Who the fuck is Evan Hansen?”  
“Who?” Jared got up, grabbing the console of her to look at the label that read ‘Property of Evan Hansen’. This triggered something in Jared, a swell of warmth flooding him. “I have no idea.” He glanced at Connor, who had a look of wonder on his face. He didn’t know how much he missed that look.  
“What’s a game console doing in a school?” Zoe asked again.  
“It must’ve been donated.” Alana grabbed the console. “Hansen? Like Heidi Hansen?”  
“I didn’t know she had a son.” Zoe looked over Alana’s shoulder and spotted the TV. “Let’s hook it up.”  
“Why? I don’t think now is the time to play video games, Zo.”  
“Well, I think it’s the perfect time. Hook it up, Zoe.” Jared smirked at him as he walked past him to help her.

It didn’t take long, considering how old the console was, and soon the title screen came up, with outdated visuals that made Jared cringe.  
“A game for those who seek to find, a way to leave their world behind.” Zoe read out and they both glanced at each other. “Choose your fighter, Miss Murphy.” Zoe grinned grabbing the second controller. She scanned through the options, reading them all.  
“Seaplane McDonough, Mouse Finbar, Smolder Bravestone, Shelly Oberon, Ruby Roundhouse? Why is there only one girl in video games?” She grumbled as she picked Ruby Roundhouse.  
“Sexism, Zoe.” Jared said as he tried to pick Seaplane McDonough but was unable to. “Urgh.” Instead he chose Shelly Oberon, seeing as that was the next option. At this point, Alana had joined them and was reaching for another controller.  
“Which one should I choose?” She asked Jared, getting adjusted to the controls.  
“Anyone, I don’t think it matters much.” Alana shrugged and picked the next character (Mouse Finbar). She turned back to Connor, still sitting on the floor watching them. “What are you doing down there? Come on, pick a character.”  
“Leave him, Lana.” Jared groaned, which prompted Connor to join them and pick the last character available – Smolder Bravestone.  
“God, he sounds like a dick.” He remarked.  
“He sounds perfect for you then.” Jared rolled his eyes and pressed start. The screen faded to black and the drums started back up again as green sparks shot out of the console. “Get back!” He pushed Zoe away as the spark got more intense. Connor reached for the plug and pulled it out from the back of the TV, but the green sparks continued and became more intense before quieting down. The four teenagers breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if the panic was over, until Connor looked back at Zoe and noticed something strange.  
“Zoe, what’s going on with your hands?” She looked down, watching in horror as her hands disappeared as if she was disintegrating and everything went black.

She hit the muddy floor with an undignified grunt. She looked around and came face to face with a lush jungle. The trees hung above her, almost blocking out the sunlight and she could hear the river rushing close to her. Three more grunts filled the air as Jared, Alana and Connor dropped out of the sky in consecutive order. Except they didn’t look like Jared, Alana and Connor.  
“What the _fuck_?”

 

 


End file.
